Promoter and CpG Island Microarrays (Nuts & Bolts series)

An overview of the emerging technology of Chromatin Immunoprecipitation on microarrays or chips (ChIP on chip) is provided in this guide to improving the efficiency of the promoter binding analysis of DNA. Detailed explanations of techniques and protocols for performing the ChIP on chip experiments accompany guidelines for analyzing the data that is obtained. Methylation analysis of a CpG island using CpG microarrays allows researchers to develop arrays of thousands of promoter regions without cloning promoters. Discussions of these innovations and future directions for improvement provide researchers essential information for utilizing this new technology.